Новости/Аналитика

You will help ... hemp

The plant is more known for its narcotic effect, however, it also has medicinal properties

Cartogram of technical hemp crops in 2016 (3,471 hectares)

In 2016, the crops of technical hemp in Ukraine amounted to about 3,500 hectares. The largest areas were occupied in Sumy, Vinnytsia, Rivne, Poltava and Zhytomyr regions.

Recently, Mayor of the Sumy city of Glukhov, Michel Tereschenko, announced the opening of a hemp therapy center in the city. "This will help in the treatment of sick patients, as well as help healthy people stay in good health," the statement said.

Hmm, hemp treatment? Interesting! After all, not everyone knows about the medicinal properties of this plant. In fact, they have been known to mankind for several thousand years. And in the 30-ies of the last century more than 50% of medical drugs in the world were made on the basis of extracts from cannabis!

At the same time in Ukraine, such an initiative may face a number of problems, such as the lack of specialists and the lack of a regulatory and legal framework. So what are the prospects for hemp therapy in Ukraine? More in detail about this we ask Alexander Ignatyuk, president of the association "Ukrainian technical hemp".

- How does this plant affect the body?

- In hemp contains more than 60 cannabinoid compounds, which have a different therapeutic effect on the human body. For example, cannabidiol is used to treat cancer, AIDS, and neurodegenerative diseases. It is also effective as a sleeping pill. Other compounds have a pronounced antiemetic, antifungal and antibacterial effect.

- Why is the plant more known for its narcotic effect?

- The status of a narcotic plant cannabis was obtained thanks to anti-smoking campaigns. Such campaigns helped to influence prices in the market and earn billions on it. The fact is that hemp has always been the most highly profitable agricultural crop. In the last century, profits from the sale of products from cannabis was comparable to the profit from the sale of oil. And in the 1930s, hemp was called a "culture by a billion." By the way, then in the USSR was concentrated five sixth world market of this culture.

- Does the Ukrainian legislation allow you to grow cannabis?

- Yes, but only for industrial needs. And this depends on how much tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is contained in the plant. It is this cannabinoid compound that is controlled throughout the world. In Ukraine, the lowest permissible THC in the world is only 0.08%. Whereas in Europe - 0,2%, and in Canada, the USA and Australia - 0,3%.

Since the 70s of the last century, Ukrainian scientists have conducted experiments on the selection of this plant. They managed to reduce the content of THC, and hemp became not a narcotic plant. Therefore, it is not interesting to the drug market and there is no need to protect hemp fields. In order to have at least some kind of psychoactive effect from technical hemp, we need to smoke about 20 hectares of plant crops. By the way, in 2016 the crops of technical hemp in Ukraine were about 3500 hectares. The largest areas it occupied in Sumy, Vinnytsia, Rivne, Poltava and Zhytomyr regions.

It is interesting that hemp - one of the best phyto-mediadians - plants that heal the soil. They "pull" heavy metals and radioactive isotopes from it. However, then the plant must be burned in modernized thermal power plants, so that heavy metals settle on special filters installed on the pipes. By the way, after the explosion at Fukushima, the Japanese applied to Ukrainian scientists who were cannabisers to restore the soil quality in a radiation-polluted environment with their help. The leader in the use of cannabis in medicine is Israel, where officially more than 25,000 patients are officially treated in this way.